So you wanna be part of the gang?

Since someone actually made the "no worse than a fraternity hazing" argument in a response in this journal, this entry I posted elsewhere is relevant here as well. (Original context in tbearpsy's journal. [WARNING! Entry contains pics from Abu Ghraib.])

I think the "no worse than a fraternity hazing" arguments are really off base. They only consider the physical acts completely divorced from their psychological context. First of all, hazings are voluntary; if you don't want to go through one, don't join a society that organises them. Second, why does someone choose to undergo a hazing? To become a full member of a group. They satisfy a deep craving to belong to something.

The abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib was intended to have precisely the opposite effect. Undergoing it didn't make the Iraqis PiKEs or lacrosse team members; it only made them more outcast. Even if no one they care about saw the pictures, they know deep down they were forced to perform humiliating acts while being powerless to stop them. Can you imagine how damaging that must be? It's less like a hazing than a gay-bashing.

There is a line at murder, though; unfortunately, it's been hinted that the newest revelations include accusations of rape and murder. A lot more people will need to be brought to justice before we can close this ignonimous chapter of the occupation.

Language pimping

BBC News have a cutesy feature for those interested in learning languages. You take a quick quiz and get helpful, customised pointers. Try it!

A week without the Great White One: Day 1

靑山裏碧溪水야 수이 감을 자랑 마라.
一到蒼海하면 돌아오기 어려우리.
명월이 滿空山하니 쉬어간들 어떠리. (황진이)

Have you met Phil A. Dendrom?

So maybe I go on too much about bad spelling, but sometimes I find it simply baffling. I mean, I understand that anyone can have a bad day (like rollick with her recent Brauhaus post) and that it's difficult to look up a word if you've never seen it written, only heard it, or to remember the spelling of a word in a language you don't speak. However, how do you explain this sign on a plant in the staff lounge:

VARIEGATED PHILADENDROM
(Philodendron scandens)

Now, setting aside for a moment the fact that the plant is decidedly not a member of the Philodendron genus (as we learned from last year's plant quiz, it's actually an Epipremnum aureum, also known as a "pothos"), how does it escape the person typing up the card that there might be a connexion of some sort between the scientific name and the popular? And how did they find (and correctly spell) the former when they so badly munged the latter?